Griff's Garage

[max225]

Your bish is the Donald Trump of the Charlotte area.

Probably common sense that an actual house with land > townhome investment wise, but damn if a townhouse wouldn't be convenient and nice.... it had an oversized two car garage, 2.5X the square footage, everything fresh and new.

Yea … I lived in a townhouse for 8 years before the single family home thing. The amount of shit you DON’T have to deal with is great. However you are stacked on top of other humans

[CaleDeRoo]

Probably common sense that an actual house with land > townhome investment wise, but damn if a townhouse wouldn't be convenient and nice.... it had an oversized two car garage, 2.5X the square footage, everything fresh and new.

Yea … I lived in a townhouse for 8 years before the single family home thing. The amount of shit you DON’T have to deal with is great. However you are stacked on top of other humans

Not a bad thing if you haven't met anyone like my roommate and I.

[D Griff]

Well, the shop said that it is an ABS wheel sensor causing the codes, not a surprise and shouldn’t be a big deal. They also say that the transmission output shaft seal is leaking and they want to replace that for 1K. I am pretty on this… think I may pick it up and take a look for myself. Who knows if this is utter or not. I really don’t trust shops.

[max225]

Well, the shop said that it is an ABS wheel sensor causing the codes, not a surprise and shouldn’t be a big deal. They also say that the transmission output shaft seal is leaking and they want to replace that for 1K. I am pretty on this… think I may pick it up and take a look for myself. Who knows if this is utter or not. I really don’t trust shops.

Take a look and welcome to German car nickel and diming bs.

What the quote for the sensor ? And you can prolly do that one yourself

[D Griff]

Well, the shop said that it is an ABS wheel sensor causing the codes, not a surprise and shouldn’t be a big deal. They also say that the transmission output shaft seal is leaking and they want to replace that for 1K. I am pretty on this… think I may pick it up and take a look for myself. Who knows if this is utter or not. I really don’t trust shops.

Take a look and welcome to German car nickel and diming bs.

What the quote for the sensor ? And you can prolly do that one yourself

Like $350… I think I’ll at home.

[D Griff]

So I'm finding very little on this transmission output shaft seal issue online.

I did find this for the 1 series. https://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=1815554

I assume it's similar, this process is more than I'm willing/have time to tackle at home, and $1K for all that actually seems rather fair. My concern is that the shop is just hosing me and it's a non issue. There is no oil under where I park but presumably it’s all collected on under body cladding. I'm thinking maybe I'll ask them to share some photos with me before pulling the trigger. It does seem like a very random/labor intensive thing to fabricate. They also did say when I brought it the battery could cause issues and they are saying that it's still great. I don't get a fleecing vibe from this shop and they are specialists for BMW and have excellent reviews, but I have pretty minimal experience using shops and typically DIY most things.

Any advice from the group?

[goIftdibrad]

Well, the shop said that it is an ABS wheel sensor causing the codes, not a surprise and shouldn’t be a big deal. They also say that the transmission output shaft seal is leaking and they want to replace that for 1K. I am pretty on this… think I may pick it up and take a look for myself. Who knows if this is utter or not. I really don’t trust shops.

if you are going to take it home and put it on a stands to change an ABS sensor, just poke around while you are there.

output shaft seal does not seem like a 1k labor charge to me. If its just weeping, clean the vent and keep an eye on it. That could go on for years an be a non issue.

[D Griff]

Well, the shop said that it is an ABS wheel sensor causing the codes, not a surprise and shouldn’t be a big deal. They also say that the transmission output shaft seal is leaking and they want to replace that for 1K. I am pretty on this… think I may pick it up and take a look for myself. Who knows if this is utter or not. I really don’t trust shops.

if you are going to take it home and put it on a stands to change an ABS sensor, just poke around while you are there.

output shaft seal does not seem like a 1k labor charge to me. If its just weeping, clean the vent and keep an eye on it. That could go on for years an be a non issue.

this is pretty much what I've decided, I have time this weekend to take a lookskie. I'll pick it up today and assess. I think I will just never be a take a car to a shop and trust 'em kinda guy

[max225]

So I'm finding very little on this transmission output shaft seal issue online.

I did find this for the 1 series. https://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=1815554

I assume it's similar, this process is more than I'm willing/have time to tackle at home, and $1K for all that actually seems rather fair. My concern is that the shop is just hosing me and it's a non issue. There is no oil under where I park but presumably it’s all collected on under body cladding. I'm thinking maybe I'll ask them to share some photos with me before pulling the trigger. It does seem like a very random/labor intensive thing to fabricate. They also did say when I brought it the battery could cause issues and they are saying that it's still great. I don't get a fleecing vibe from this shop and they are specialists for BMW and have excellent reviews, but I have pretty minimal experience using shops and typically DIY most things.

Any advice from the group?

Ask them to share pics of the leak with you, if they can’t just take it home and do your own inspection. Oil leaks aren’t exactly hard to find for the most part.

I usually look the car over before taking it to a shop to avoid rape. But I do get occasional surprises. I.e the engine mount

[D Griff]

Well, as you all know, I picked up a 2023 GR86 10th Anniversary Edition last week, whorange Here is my initial experience and review.

I had the BRZ order in since July or so, originally slated for December delivery. When December rolled around and it was clear that there would be further delays, I started calling around to see if GR86 allocations were more available. They did seem to have improved a bit and I started seeing the whorange edition on Toyota's site. Over a few days I became very fixated on this car and started calling all over, looking in the Northeast, FL, etc. I spoke to many dealers, some offered me the car at anywhere from$3K-10K markup, a few had MSRP allocations available but would only sell in state (CLT market gets zero of these cars for whatever reason, people here are pickup men I guess). The vast majority of them were just already spoken for though. I became a bit obsessed and started checking every day. I finally found the car I bought at Kirk Toyota in MS, called them, they said they would sell out of state at MSRP plus a $1K out of state fee. This was sub optimal but their doc fee was also about $600 less ($395, everything here is around $1K) and they were willing to pick me up from Memphis, drive me the 80 minutes down, etc. so I said fuck it. They turned out to be a bit throughout the process but seemingly honest and upheld their end of the deal. I picked it up without any real hitch and drove back home.

The trip from Grenada, MS to CLT is around 700 miles. Since I flew in and did the on a Saturday, I didn't get out until 2 PM or so. I opted to take a slightly longer road home, stay the night in Chattanooga and go home over the Tail of the Dragon and some other mountain roads. This was good fun but it was raining/cold/snowing a bit Sunday morning so I couldn't send it too much on the mountain roads (I have also been adhering to the break in period pretty well.

On to the car:

The Good:
- I love the looks of this car, I'm 100% glad I paid extra for orange, the black duckbill is awesome, it's a great shape, etc.
- The obvious is the handling, while I haven't yet tracked or driven in full anger, the car is just super balanced, it's not the drift missile of the first gen on all seasons but it doesn't understeer at all anywhere I've been able to explore so far
-Interior - the seats are fantastic, the orange accents are fun, everything is very well laid out, HVAC easy to use and works well
-Tech: I haven't really had any cars with modern features but turning LED headlights, CarPlay, heated seats, etc. is pretty cool
-Inputs: probably the best part of this car, the steering and shifter are the best in the biz, the steering wheel/knob feel good too. Brake pedal is firm and feels good, I haven't really fully tested the brakes
- The motor - I'm still in break in so I can't speak to outright power but man, I love natty aspirated engines, the instant nature of the throttle response is and the free revving nature is
- This thing is a much easier daily than a Corvette, tighter turning, easier parking, haven't found any scrape, etc.
- It's quite comfy and fits a 6'1" 190 pound dude well, great space for weekend trips for two, can take the dog, etc.

The bad (most of this is expected):
- Ride quality isn't great
- It's very loud inside, tire noise and drone (I need to see about the interior sound coming through stereo, I also have the GR exhaust)
- The stereo sucks and my wife said the mic on BT calls sounds shitty
- Backup cam resolution is poor
- Back seat is pretty useless (still it's pretty practical for what it is, sooo much more room than say a Miata or S2000)
- The visibility is not very good, blind spots are always there (at least it has a light when cars are there and large mirrors) and side visibility isn't the best either, it would probably be better for shorter people. No one mentions this about this car. It's not as bad as a Camaro but still a bit
- At the moment the only trailer hitch available is this thing: http://www.slambertperformance.com/shop/twin-hitch but more coming soon

[D Griff]

All in all I'm really happy with this and it's what I was hoping it would be.

[D Griff]

Pics from the journey:

[golftdibrad1]

All in all I'm really happy with this and it's what I was hoping it would be.

glad you like it.

[Valkyrie]

You drove it in the rain? Totaled. Get some Zaino on there ASAP.

I love that car, mine was good but yours is a much better look IMO. Plus more power is always fun.

I used to autox with Shawn Lambert. He's a legit engineer and fabricator, those hitches definitely work. I wouldn't worry about using one. If I kept my car I would have gotten a hitch from Shawn.

[wap]

Great pics. Glad you're happy with it.

[golftdibrad1]

Pics from the journey:

hey i know that place

[D Griff]

You drove it in the rain? Totaled. Get some Zaino on there ASAP.

I love that car, mine was good but yours is a much better look IMO. Plus more power is always fun.

I used to autox with Shawn Lambert. He's a legit engineer and fabricator, those hitches definitely work. I wouldn't worry about using one. If I kept my car I would have gotten a hitch from Shawn.

You may have pushed me over the edge on the hitch. It seems like a lot of weight levering at a 90 degree angle from the designed direction of pull on the tow hooks.

Other than that I like the concept, easy to install, no need to break clips removing the bumper. I just feel that makes more sense towing a small trailer versus a bike rack hanging off the back, particularly with two heavy mountain bikes on it.

I even drove it in snow Somehow I didn't die, even on PS4S (granted it was like 38F). I haven't washed it yet but would like to.

[Valkyrie]

Small trailer would definitely be safer with that much weight, but you can ask Shawn what he thinks about it. I assume you'd be around 100 lbs for 2 bikes and a rack which is quite a bit to hang there but no big deal to pull on a trailer. The autox/track folks have been pulling trailers with similar loads for 10 years now on those cars.

[D Griff]

Small trailer would definitely be safer with that much weight, but you can ask Shawn what he thinks about it. I assume you'd be around 100 lbs for 2 bikes and a rack which is quite a bit to hang there but no big deal to pull on a trailer. The autox/track folks have been pulling trailers with similar loads for 10 years now on those cars.

That was my exact concern, yeah. He rates it as a tongue weight max of 100 pounds which it would be pretty much on the money, the rack is 41 and the bikes are 25-35 pounds or so. It's hanging a ways off the back as well

[Desertbreh]

Pics from the journey:

Without doubt this is the King of the 86s.

[Valkyrie]

Small trailer would definitely be safer with that much weight, but you can ask Shawn what he thinks about it. I assume you'd be around 100 lbs for 2 bikes and a rack which is quite a bit to hang there but no big deal to pull on a trailer. The autox/track folks have been pulling trailers with similar loads for 10 years now on those cars.

That was my exact concern, yeah. He rates it as a tongue weight max of 100 pounds which it would be pretty much on the money, the rack is 41 and the bikes are 25-35 pounds or so. It's hanging a ways off the back as well

I remember going through this exact mental process.

I didn't get as far as asking Shawn though, ended up giving up on cars first.

[golftdibrad1]

You drove it in the rain? Totaled. Get some Zaino on there ASAP.

I love that car, mine was good but yours is a much better look IMO. Plus more power is always fun.

I used to autox with Shawn Lambert. He's a legit engineer and fabricator, those hitches definitely work. I wouldn't worry about using one. If I kept my car I would have gotten a hitch from Shawn.

You may have pushed me over the edge on the hitch. It seems like a lot of weight levering at a 90 degree angle from the designed direction of pull on the tow hooks.

Other than that I like the concept, easy to install, no need to break clips removing the bumper. I just feel that makes more sense towing a small trailer versus a bike rack hanging off the back, particularly with two heavy mountain bikes on it.

I even drove it in snow Somehow I didn't die, even on PS4S (granted it was like 38F). I haven't washed it yet but would like to.

I think you are prob fine but its worth shooting the guy an email. Even with a more traditional under frame mount all those bolts are under a lot of leverage load.

[D Griff]

I shot him a note, we'll see if he has any thoughts.

has named the car Tony the Tiger

[Valkyrie]

I shot him a note, we'll see if he has any thoughts.

has named the car Tony the Tiger

That's grrrreat.

[D Griff]

I shot him a note, we'll see if he has any thoughts.

has named the car Tony the Tiger

That's grrrreat.

Weirdly she didn't like the red one I had booked and hated Neptune bloo and actually digs the orange, overall I think she thinks the car is dumb.